Gianni’s Cool & Sweet Lantern
Whenever there’s a new custom project commission, our BeCraft glass design studio goes into high gear. The same thing happened when Gianni walked into our workshop, a smile on his face and a lantern in his hand.
Gianni is a young entrepreneur who was born in Dubrovnik’s Old City. And that is where he is about to open a pastry shop. Not just another franchised, serial joint, put a proper artisan pastry shop where you will be able to buy original artisanal gelato. And a proper home-made lemonade. And the tones of traditional Dubrovnik’s cakes and pastries. In the last decade or so, Dubrovnik became flooded with tourists and – like many other popular destinations such as Venice or Barcelona – begun its fight for sustainable tourism. There’s been a lot of talk about bringing old crafts and young people back into the heart of Old City. Therefore, Gianni’s artisanal pastry shop seems like an exemplary and most welcome project.
All in all: cool & sweet!
Since BeCraft bunch has a penchant for all-things-candy, we immediately began brainstorming. Some mentioned certain famous pasticcerias in Rome and Florence, and someone even recalled Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor from the Harry Potter series.
Whether you prefer real or fictional pastry shops, you have to agree that such a fairy-like joint, a true storehouse of sweet pleasures, deserves a visible signpost. As you might guess, it turned out this is going to be a wall mounted lantern. And not just any lantern, but a true Made in Dubrovnik, vintage lantern.
As the story goes, Gianni salvaged this beautiful object from a junkyard. Unlike most of Dubrovnik’s street lamps and lanterns, this one is not cast out of black iron, but of brass. After some polishing and cleaning, it regained its fantastic golden shine. We haven’t managed to learn exactly what kind of brass it is made of, as there are allegedly over 20 sorts of this metal. Some of them have really interesting names, like Admiralty Brass of Prince Rupert’s Metal. Great stuff!
Sure, you can choose to call this a case of recycling or upcycling, but we believe that in this story the most important thing is that Gianni saved an old hand-made lantern from corroding into oblivion. And a hand-made lantern deserves a hand-made glass. And so it began.
Throughout the years we have designed and manufactured countless custom glass decorative and functional objects, and none of these stories repeated, ever. When it comes to glass design, every custom project is a niche of its own.
Gianni’s wall mounted lantern is specific in relation, for example, to wall installation, since it has to allow passage of light in both directions, in and out. Besides, it has to reflect the character of the brand and its owner. And it definitely has to communicate with passers-by. Besides – this is something very important for all Dubrovnikers – it has to perfectly fit within the Old City of Dubrovnik’s spirit and vistas.
If you’ve e been to Dubrovnik, you know that once you’re inside the ancient City Walls, there won’t be many places where you can catch a glimpse of the sea, though it might be very, very close. This is where beautiful street lights such as Gianni’s wall mounted lantern turn into little lighthouses, the illumined landmarks that are so much nicer than the flashy neon adds. And not only during the summer. Because, when the winter winds start swaying all the street lamps in Dubrovnik, we are rather certain that Gianni’s lantern will keep shedding the merriest and sweetest light of all.
